Land Use

As the U.S. experiences its worst drought in over half a century, Kaid Benfield questions the connection with the country's suburban growth patterns over that same period.

July 20, 2012 - Switchboard

An award-winning master plan for Toronto's Lower Don Lands, completed only five years ago by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, may be gutted if the Ford administration has its way, reports Alex Ulam.

July 19, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Yesterday, the controversial plan to expand New York University's footprint in Greenwich Village over the next 20 years was approved by a City Council committee after last minute negotiations and reductions, reports Joseph Berger.

July 18, 2012 - The New York Times

With skyrocketing maintenance and repair costs gobbling up the Hudson River Park Trust's reserve fund, the HRPT has been pushing to change the park's enabling legislation to allow a wider variety of development types.

July 17, 2012 - The Architect's Newspaper

Speaking at a recent Urban Land Institute series organized to discuss Vancouver in 2050, three of the city's former planning directors expressed grave concerns over the city's ability to adequately handle its future growth, reports Jeff Lee.

July 17, 2012 - Vancouver Sun

John Hoeffel reports on the unwavering efforts of bee enthusiasts to legalize beekeeping in residential areas of Los Angeles.

July 17, 2012 - The Los Angeles Times

As America's beloved shopping mall enters its "golden years", Emily Badger considers the astounding anti-suburban ethos of its inventor, and what the future has in store for this "over the hill" retail development model.

July 17, 2012 - The Atlantic Cities

July 16, 2012 - Charles Siegel

Christopher Hawthorne completes his second installment in an ongoing series examining the transformation of Los Angeles through the lens of its famous boulevards. This entry focuses on the most famous street in the city - Sunset Boulevard.

July 16, 2012 - Los Angeles Times

The Economist looks at the improvements made to London's public spaces over the last decade, as the city's first elected mayors strove to improve the capital city's environs. So why has the city failed to keep up with its global competitors?

July 16, 2012 - The Economist

Upending the adage that nothing gets done in D.C. these days, last week the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) released their long range plans for remaking the Southwest area of the capital, capping two years of intense debate.

July 16, 2012 - THE DIRT

As the number of completed parklets in San Francisco nears three dozen, after debuting only two years ago, "the latest trend in urban placemaking" has entered the planning mainstream without losing its grassroots origins.

July 16, 2012 - San Francisco Chronicle

America's fundamental levels of governance are changing, writes Anna Clark in Next American City, who uses examples from Detroit and Cleveland to ascertain what the stakes are when cities cede public sector work to third parties.

July 15, 2012 - Next American City

Lillian Mathews describes "radical cartography," a movement to highlight, not hide, the process and politics associated with map-making decisions.

July 15, 2012 - Global Site Plans - The Grid

Efforts to expand bicycle-friendly infrastructure across the country have revealed the importance of comprehensive planning. Peter DeMarco reports on ways in which planners in the Boston area are trying to fill in the gaps in their emerging network.

July 14, 2012 - Boston.com

Edward Jensen responds to a recent attention grabbing op-ed in The Arizona Republic with his own list of priorities to help enliven the core of the sixth-largest city in the country.

July 14, 2012 - Technology for a Digital Generation

Farhad Manjoo probes the internet retail giant's shifting strategy on the geographic distribution of its facilities, and wonders what the implications are for local retail once Amazon can offer same-day delivery.

July 13, 2012 - Salon

Jeremy Rosenberg examines why Thomas Jefferson may have had more of an impact on the development of Los Angeles than you might suspect. The city's street grid can be traced back to this American founding father.

July 13, 2012 - KCET

Only a decade after the last family farm in the city closed, commercial agriculture is mining "the last slice of untapped real estate in the city" to reap a bounty of benefits - from locally grown basil and bok choy to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

July 13, 2012 - The New York Times

As airlines cut service to small and mid-sized cities, once bustling airports now find whole terminals vacated, and are looking to find new revenue models for the vacated space, reports Jane L. Levere.

July 12, 2012 - The New York Times